GETTING ON THE GRID

Project to tap area wind power for Eastern homes

Project to tap area wind power for Eastern homes

February 12, 2009

SIOUX FALLS - A Michigan company wants to build a network of transmission lines across the Midwest that could carry enough wind-generated electricity for millions of homes. The grid in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana would eventually include 3,000 miles of 756,000-volt transmission lines to deliver wind power to Chicago and points east. The ''Green Power Express'' could deliver wind-generated power to 3.6 million homes. ''A robust transmission system is critical to the nation's energy solution,'' Joseph Welch, chairman and chief executive of ITC Holdings Corp., said during an investor conference call Monday. ''The Green Power Express is a portion of a bigger ITC vision of a super-regional, high-voltage transmission backbone.'' The Novi, Mich.-based company on Monday filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for rate and incentives to help build the $10 billion to $12 billion network, which could come online by 2020. ''It could take up to five years to get to construction on this project, but we could be there in two - if the right regulatory reforms are adopted in the developing energy policy and legislation,'' Welch said. Six of the seven states where the Green Power Express would traverse are among the top 20 states for wind energy potential, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator released a study this week that estimates it will cost $80 billion or more to build the 15,000 miles of transmission lines required to supply 20 percent of the energy needs for the eastern United States from wind by 2024. But those lines would save consumers $12 billion annually and could recoup capital investments in as little as seven years. Welch said ITC is working toward partnerships with energy companies to supply the network. ''The companies around the table proposing this, they've done some projects,'' said Dusty Johnson, chairman of the S.D. Public Utilities Commission. ''They've got as good a chance at doing this as well as anyone else. The size of this project, it just boggles the mind.''